he semester is already half over, and that means the apartment hunt for next fall is also coming to an end.

“November until Christmas Break is the ideal time to be looking for apartments for next fall,” said Joe Sosnowski of Star Properties. “We would like to have all of our apartments rented out by April 15.”

Although the ideal searching period for apartments has passed, students should not be discouraged if they have not yet started. Local landlords say there are still plenty of apartments available.

“We still have quite a few vacancies available,” said Ryan Lewellen, leasing manager for Suburban Apartments. “We expect that most of our apartments will be rented by the end of April.”

Some main concerns students have when deciding which apartment is right for them are the price and the quality of the apartment. Many students cannot afford to upgrade into newer and more expensive apartments because of the bleak economic outlook.

“Seeing as jobs are few and far between this summer, I’m going to have to stick with the apartment that I’ve got because it’s the most I can afford to spend,” junior hospitality major Joe Sexton said.

Something to be aware of when apartment hunting is the utilities you have to pay, which may include gas, electric, water, sewer and garbage removal. Water, sewer and garbage are the main concerns of many students because they are not expecting to pay these, Sexton said. It is a good idea to shop around to find out which leasing companies will pay some of the utilities.

“A big concern of students is, ‘Will the landlord fix problems that exist?’ A lot of landlords don’t give service,” said Jim Mason, owner of Mason Properties.

Mason said many students want a leasing company that will assist them whenever a problem presents itself.

Although most students looking for housing off campus will go to many of the leasing companies in town, many students would rather search for apartments elsewhere.

“Private landlords spend more time with any of the problems that may occur with your apartment without charging you fees for something that breaks, like my leasing company did in the past,” junior geography major Jill Laskero said. “Private landlords have fewer apartments to look after so they spend more of their time to work with you and are just easier to deal with in general.”

Most private landlords have houses with individual apartments in them or individual rooms within a rooming house. Many of these houses are old and are not as newly renovated as some of the apartment buildings offered by some of the leasing companies in town.

For an online database of apartment listings in DeKalb, search the Northern Star’s Housing Guide at www.northernstar.info.